Iranian mosques in Austria, Germany slam women and Israel
Iranian regime-controlled mosque probed by the Austrian Integration Fund doesn't recognize Israel — regardless of its boundaries.
By BENJAMIN WEINTHALUpdated: OCTOBER 8, 2017 04:21Iran's national flags are seen on a square in Tehran, Iran.(photo credit: REUTERS)
Iranian regime-controlled mosques in Vienna and Hamburg stoke genocidal antisemitism against Israel, while the Imam Ali mosque in the Austrian capital propagates discrimination against women, according to a government report and statements.The Austrian Integration Fund (ÖIF) said last week, in its report probing 16 mosques that in the Iranian regime-controlled Imam Ali mosque, that “the mosque is entirely on the same line as Iran’s state doctrine. Israel is not, regardless of its boundaries, recognized.The goal is the destruction of the Jewish state.”In one of the prayer services observed at the Imam Ali mosque in February, the cleric publicized a conference for the support of the Palestinians under the motto: “Palestine is the home of the Palestinians.”The imam complained during the service that the Islamic world was so occupied with its own problems that it had lost sight of the Palestinians and “negotiates with the ruthless usurper.” While Israel was not mentioned by name, the pejorative descriptions are believed to have targeted the Jewish state.The mosque is part of the Islamic Center of Vienna, which organizes the city’s annual al-Quds Day rally calling for the obliteration of Israel. Austrian neo-Nazis have over the years participated in the rally. In June, anti-Israel activists at the march held signs stating “Zionism is fascism,” according to an article in Der Standard.The ÖIF noted that in two of three sermons, Muslims were designated the victims in the Middle East. The Shi’ite-run institution said in a service in February that the West supported terrorists with highly developed technological weapons, and Sunni Arab states supported the US.In a March service at the mosque, an imam contended that “a global conspiracy of Western and Arab states seek to destroy Iran.”The study noted that the mosque could be viewed as the Austrian representation of the state-run Iranian cleric system. It is in close contact with Iran’s embassy in Vienna.Some members of the staff are converts who completed their training in Iran’s holy city of Qom.
The ÖIF also said women were denigrated at the Imam Ali mosque.In February, a cleric advocated a clear separation of men from women: “There is a big difference between our Muslim women and other women in parts of the world. Our women do not fight for their intellectual interests. This difference was made possible by the Islamic Revolution [in Iran in 1979].”The report said the mosque assessed women in the West as “negative.” It added that the mosque conveys an extremist theological ideology that women have to sacrifice themselves for religion and the Islamic Republic of Iran. It concluded that the views of the Iranian mosque were not compatible with integration in Austrian society.German media reports on Wednesday wrote that the Iranian-regime run Islamic Center of Hamburg, which includes the Blue Mosque, will continue to be monitored by local intelligence officials. The German government called for the extended observation of Iranian regime institutions in Hamburg.The Islamic Center of Hamburg organizes the annual al-Quds Day march in Berlin. It is frequented by Hezbollah supporters and is a hotbed of antisemitism and anti-Western thinking.